It
has been two years since I wrote “And
Out of the Ashes, the Phoenix Shall Rise,” a post-election
2008 column that predicted a revived conservative movement. Two years
later, it is time to revisit where we were, examine where we are, and
most importantly – to see where we are going.

Quoting
from the original column:

Do
we need a “new Reagan”? Of course! Will we find one? Eventually.
What really needs to happen, and will, is the reemergence of the conservative
movement. Obama’s ideas are certainly socialist in nature, and
with both houses of congress being controlled by Democrats, will be
able to put a number of his ideas into place. Ultimately the public,
after seeing the results of such an agenda will be ready for “change”
yet again. The question is; in what way will the conservative movement
achieve this rebirth?

What
of the Republican Party? Can it return to its conservative roots? In
order to do so, it’s going to take a concerted effort by grass
roots members to weed out the old guard of elitists/globalists who for
the most part run today’s GOP.

The
Obama regime of course immediately began its mission of destroying what
remained of our constitutional republic and replacing it with their
vision of a socialist utopia. Taking former White House chief of staff
Rahm Emanuel’s statement of “Never let a serious crisis
go to waste…" to heart, the Obama-Pelosi-Reid axis began
their raid on both our liberties and our pocketbooks. “Stimulus”
bills, bailouts, government takeovers of business – not to mention
the slimy, backroom, vote-buying scheme that foisted “Obamacare”
on an unwilling public – have all combined to make even the most
gullible swing voter realize that this wasn’t the “hope
and change” they were hoping for.

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The
conservative movement did indeed see its rebirth at the grass roots
level. It can no longer accurately be described as “conservative,”
per se, as the form that it took came through the tea party movement.
Tea partiers are “conservatives,” “constitutionalists,”
“libertarians,” “Reagan democrats” and so on,
but the one thing they all share in common is a desire for a smaller,
less obtrusive government that actually listens to them. The insider/elitists
within the GOP attempted to hijack the movement, and in a few cases
succeeded, but by and large, legitimate tea party backed candidates
carried the day November 2nd.

With
an upcoming GOP house majority, the Obama regime and its minions in
the MSM are already screeching about
gridlock - that the government won’t be able to get anything
done. To those of us who, like Reagan, see government as the problem,
not the solution, gridlock is a thing of beauty. Gridlock means that
congress critters won’t be picking our pockets and meddling with
our lives by voting in new, unconstitutional pork barrel legislation.
As far as gridlock is concerned, we’ll be glad to take all that
we can get!

What
the Republican Party needs to understand at this point is that the 2010
midterm elections were not an endorsement of the GOP by the voting public.
People are fed up with the status quo of both name brand parties, but
by default, the GOP was the vehicle used to get true constitutional
conservatives elected. In effect, the tea party is a party within a
party, and the insider machine will be doing everything they can to
make “insiders” out of newly elected congressional representatives.
The freshmen will be very pressured to “go along to get along”
so that it will be business as usual inside the beltway.

As
I said two years ago:

The
conservative base has never been able to effectively gain control of
the GOP and throw out the scalawags, so while “taking back the
party” would be welcome, the more cynical side of me believes
– based on the GOP’s history – that it would amount
to at best a temporary tipping of the scales.

We
have arrived at a very crucial juncture in our nation’s history.
The Republican Party has the opportunity to do what it failed to do
under George W. Bush – rein in out of control government, and
legislate based on the U.S. Constitution. The new GOP members of congress
must carry their enthusiasm and the convictions of their beliefs into
Washington when they take office in January. They have a duty to the
people who elected them to not be corrupted by a system that fosters
corruption.

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If
these freshmen can stand firm, they may be able to shake up the insider
establishment and in so doing, reshape the Republican Party so that
it actually tries to live up to its ideals of governing based on the
founders’ principles. Should they fail, we indeed will have seen
only a temporary tipping of the scales.

Much
is at stake – no less than the republic itself. The phoenix has
risen – let’s hope and pray that she flies where she needs
to fly…

His interest in politics began at
the age of eight, when his parents took him to a Barry Goldwater rally
during the 1964 presidential election. In addition to his work at CHCH,
Chip's columns have appeared in a number of online conservative publications.

The
conservative movement did indeed see its rebirth at the grass roots level.
It can no longer accurately be described as “conservative,”
per se, as the form that it took came through the tea party movement.